Private Page For "The Client Advisor" and Mike Young Subscribers
While Mike Young and I were talking the other day, he brought up a topic that just about everyone is talking about these days...
The lousy economy.
Yeah, everyone likes to whine about the economy, even if it hasn't affected them personally. It seems like 4 out of 5 conversations today include the phrase, "But, in this economy..."
Fill in the rest yourself.
And the media isn't helping. Nothing sells news like disasters and hardship.
Yet, quite a few people really are hurting. And that's what Mike was talking to me about.
There's a dilemma businesses face when the economy heads south. In tough times, you often have to spend more money to get business in the door (or to your website). At the same time, because sales are down, you often have less money available to spend on marketing and advertising.
It's a vicious cycle. You need to spend more money, but you have less to spend. That's why Mike has released products like Legal Forms Generator to help businesses that can't afford to hire a lawyer.
But Mike wanted to know what could be done on the marketing side. Specifically, he asked me what would give his subscribers the biggest marketing bang for their buck.
"That's easy," I said. "Email marketing. Set up an autoresponder sequence and send out broadcasts designed to get their list to take action."
Mike knew I'd say that, because I created this website (emailmarketingmentor.com) to help businesses put email marketing to work. IMHO, email is probably the most cost-effective way to increase sales, especially for businesses with limited marketing dollars.
"So, Karl," Mike went on, getting to the point, "could you offer a special on email copywriting for my subscribers?"
That put me on the spot. As a rule, I don't discount my copywriting and consulting services. Not for anyone.
I won't apologize, but my services aren't cheap. For email copywriting, my prices start at $300 per message to write an email (either autoresponder or broadcast).
But Mike wouldn't give up. He and I have been very good friends (more like brothers) for ten years. I was even Best Man at his wedding this past October. So, I couldn't simply blow him off.
Like a pitbull, he wasn't letting go. "What could you cut from your copywriting process to get the price down, but NOT COMPROMISE THE QUALITY OR EFFECTIVENESS?"
"That's easy," I told him. "If you could reduce my research time, then I could seriously cut my prices."
You see, when I write copy, I spend most of my time researching the subject and my market. It's like an iceberg -- only the top 20% of the iceberg is visible above the surface, the remaining 80% is underwater.
My copywriting is about the same -- 80% of my time is spent on research and developing strategy. Once that's done, the 20% you see (the actual writing) is relatively easy.
"So," Mike continued, "If your clients could provide a good chunk of the research for you, then you could price your email writing services so new or struggling businesses could afford you?"
"That's about right. I'd need them to give me the top websites in their niche, forward any reports and emails created by their main competitors, and provide their own traffic and conversion statistics, if they have them. And, of course, give me all info and promotional materials about their own product or service."
"And they should have that stuff anyway, if they're serious about their business," Mike added. "Anything else?"
"That would do it."
"So," Mike said, "Bottom line, what would it cost my subscribers if they could give you everything you needed for the research?"
Great, now I had to commit myself to cutting my prices.
"Fine," I said, "I can do it for $150 per email, but there must be a minimum order of 5 emails at that price. For an autoresponder series, you'd need at least 5 anyway for it to be effective."
"What if someone only wants one or two emails?"
Here's where I had to take a stand. "Then it's $300 each. Otherwise, it's not worth taking time away from clients who pay my full rates. Besides, I usually charge $500 to $700 for one-off emails."
"And how many words do they get for the prices you quoted?"
"Depends on what's needed for that market and for the strategy I develop. Each email can range in length from 200 words to about 600, depending on what I feel will perform best. And that's the same amount of writing I do for clients who pay my full rates."
So that's the story of how my buddy the lawyer roped me into cutting my rates. If you're interested in having me write an autoresponder sequence or group of broadcast emails for you, please complete the special request form at the bottom of this post.
There is no obligation when you submit the request form. I always screen my clients to make sure we have the right fit before I agree to work with you, so you're not making a commitment until we both agree to work together.
And if you need other copywriting or additional help designing or refining your email marketing program, we can talk about that, too.
My services include copywriting for salesletters (online and offline), lead generation letters (and lead capture page for the web), email marketing (copywriting and consulting), PPC campaigns (Google Adwords, Microsoft Ad Network, Yahoo Search Marketing), marketing campaign creation, and marketing analysis.
Just use this special form to get started. You can expect a response within two business days.
And if it looks like we have a fit, I'll schedule a phone call to discuss your project in further detail.
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